FILLED WITH FRUITS

FILLED WITH FRUITS

"Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God." (Phil 1:11)

THE VERY THOUGHT of a person being "filled" is challenging – of an individual possessing something that pervades and impacts their entire person. Much of the religion of our day settles for much less than a "filling," to be sure. It is possible, of course, to be "filled" with the wrong thing. Some of those things include "unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, envy, murder, debate, deceit, and malignity" (Rom 1:29). But there are things with which we can and OUGHT to be filled. Those in Christ can be filled with "goodness" and "knowledge" (Rom 15:14), "comfort" (2 Cor 7:4), "the Spirit" (Eph 5:19), and "joy" (2 Tim 1:4). This is certainly an area worthy of much exploration.

FILLED WITH ALL ENABLING KNOWLEDGE
" . . . filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another" (Rom 15:14). To have some knowledge about the Bible is one thing. To be "filled with all knowledge" is something else! This is the kind of knowledge that enables one believer to assist another believer to move closer to heaven – to retrieve them from the snare of the devil, and to strengthen them for the good fight of faith. How could you ever hope to acquire such knowledge independently of the Holy Spirit?

FILLED WITH ALL THE FULNESS OF GOD
"That He would grant you . . . that you may . . . know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Eph 3:16-19). The objective of God is to fill His people with Himself – "the fulness of God." This is another way of saying we become "partakers of the Divine nature" (2 Pet 1:4). This involves His character, and transforms the preferences, loves, hates, and desires of those who are in Christ Jesus. Being "filled with all the fullness of God" does not mean we become God, for we are created in His image, not created to be His co-equals. The point of being "filled with all the fulness of God" is that our created capacities are permeated with the nature of God Himself. His whole Person cannot reside in us. That could only occur in the Person of Christ, in whom the "fulness" of God dwells bodily, or in corporate form (Col 1:19; 2:9). Our capacities, however, though limited, can be dominated by the Divine nature. Because the Holy Spirit accomplishes this, the results are called "the fruit of the Spirit" (Gal 5:22; Eph 5:9). That "fruit" is nothing else than "the fulness of God," and it is not possible apart from the Spirit.

FILLED WITH THE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
"Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God" (Phil 1:11). The Lord is not content for a smattering of fruit to be found in His people – an occasional exhibit of Divine life. Jesus said of fruit bearing, "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit" (John 15:3). If this is the case, and it emphatically is, how can believers produce "much fruit?" Can the glorification of the Father be accomplished by means of law, or through a disciplinary procedure? Can fruit bearing be learned through an academic regimen? The answer is obvious. We need much help in the matter of bearing fruit!

THE ABUNDANCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT the wisdom and power required for being "filled with the fruits of righteousness." These are a harvest that results from imputed righteousness. They do not constitute righteousness itself, but flow from it. Since righteousness has been imputed to us (Rom 4:22-25), the fruit of that imputation should be abundant in the saints. Those who wear the name of Jesus ought not to be as the fruitless fig tree upon which our Lord found "nothing but leaves." (Mark 11:13). After all, it is said of the Holy Spirit, " . . . the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior" (Titus 3:6).

FILLED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL
"For this cause we also . . . do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Col 1:9). One only has to have a working knowledge of Scripture, and take it seriously, to sense the great need for Divine empowerment. It is one thing to have a smattering of knowledge concerning the will of God. It is quite another to be "filled with the knowledge of His will."

"HIS WILL EXTENDS FAR BEYOND OUR PERSON. It involves God’s eternal purpose and eternal glory. As individuals, we are involved in God’s will, but our knowledge of it must be greater than the narrow perimeter of our experience. God desires for us to know what He is doing, and to actually involve us in His work. That is why Jesus said to His disciples, "Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you" (John 15:15).

BEING FILLED WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIS WILL not only brings adequacy for life, but causes one to excel in praise as well as in holy activity. Thank God for a filling like that!

– Given O. Blakely